Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Sauteed Zucchini with Tzatziki


I love zucchini.  And you know it kind of makes my mother giggle to think about how much zucchini I consume.  And the family of course.  But I just love it.  It is so versatile. But alas, I have a sad fact to admit.  I can not grow the dang things.  Shiver me timbers, I have tried.  Really, I have tried.  Year after year.  I get lots of blooms and no fruit.  Is it a bee problem?  Is it a mold problem?  Do I have a black zucchini thumb?  You see I can grow other things.  I am not daft.  Not zucchini.  I get all kinds of jealous reading all these blogs that people have - oh-so-much-zucchini-that-they-dont-know-what-to-do-with-it-all.  Blessed be, what pray tell am I doing wrong?  Should I pollinate?  I dunno.

Can you tell I am pretty exasperated?

Anyway, thank God for Maier's Farm.  I buy there zucchini, all I can cook. I have found yet another delicious way to have zucchini.  This recipe reminds me a bit of the Mexican Calabacita recipe here, except it is Mediterranean style. Delicious.  Finger licking good.  If you don't have the za'tar- not to worry, it is still pretty amazing without it.  The za'tar just kicks it up a notch.
Now, if you have these type of things in your house because your Greek or like Greek food, then this recipe is pretty darn quick. I have to say, I totally enjoyed this dish and will make some more tasatziki just so I can have this again.

You see that book under the dish.  That is a reminder how I have had to pull my daughters teeth this summer to get her to read.  It has been, oh, so, challenging.  I don't want to forget how challenging it was this summer (so far).  Just so you know, never have a dragon over for tea.  He will catch your house on fire when he sneezes.

Funny, my other daughter, it is like pulling teeth to get her to STOP reading.  Hello, daughter, I am calling you.  Sirens could be going off and there she is with her face planted in her latest and greatest book.  I love it.  Yes, I love that she loves to read.  But, dang girl, can you hear me calling you when it is time to put the dishes away? (I already know the answer to that question.)

Zucchini with Tzatziki

3 zucchini's sliced into crescents
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
za'tar

tzatziki
2 cups yogurt, Greek style
1/2 cup sour cream
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
2 regular sized cucumbers (about 2 cups), shredded
2 tablespoons fresh dill

Shred the cucumbers and sprinkle liberally with salt.  Place in colander. The salt will pull moisture from the cucmbers.  Let sit for about 15 minutes.

Sauté onion and zucchini in olive oil.  Resist the urge to turn it.  Let it brown before you stir.  When you stir make sure you let it brown again.  If you keep stirring it, it will lose its shape and get all scraggly real quick.  The browning real makes the sweetness and flavor of the zucchini come out.  Add the garlic and cook at least one minute more.  (I find that if add the garlic in the beginning it just gets sticky so I wait until it is close to being done.)

Remove from heat, plate and place a dollop of tzatziki over top.  Sprinkle with za'tar. Stir it in on your plate and enjoy.
My tomatoes and herbs in this garden box.

My arugula- love this stuff!

My zucchini, yes I see I need to address the mildew-ish leaves.  I have my spray all ready.

2 comments:

suzybel56 said...

I have no trouble growing zucchini in my garden, in fact they almost double in size overnight. I make zucchini this and zucchini that, and this sounds like a keeper. I do have trouble, however growing squash, any kind, they don't get any bigger than a tennis ball. Go figure.

Lori said...

Isnt that funny. Two years ago, some how a seed from a butternut squash got into a garden bed. Kind of a rogue thing. Before I realized what was happening the vine started stretching out over the lawn. I left it and we kind of worked around it. I had four butternut squash off of that thing. If I had planted them I wouldnt have got one. Right?